Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Brazilian lemon balm (Lippiaalba (Mill.) N. E. Brown) is a medicinal and aromatic species widely used to fight diseases. Its essential oil, rich in carvone, has insecticidal activity on pests of agricultural interest. Cutting ants cause severe economic damage to forest and horticultural species and hinder cultivation worldwide. Plant aging is one of the main factors that alter the biological activity of essential oils. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of plant age on the essential oil of L. alba accessionsand of a recurrent selection cycle onformicidal activity. The experiments were carried out at the Experimental Farm - Campus Rural UFS.The experiment consisted of a randomized blocks design with three replications. For the first experiment, 18 L. albaaccessions were used at two plant ages: one-year-old plants (February2006), and ten-year-old plants (February 2016). In the second experiment, a recurrent selection cycle was carried out with three accessions of the limonene/carvonechemotype. For the progeny competition experiment, three parent genotypes and 11 progenies were taken to the field. In the first experiment, plant age influenced the essential oil production and the chemical composition.The highest essential oil content increase was observed for accessions LA-41 (0.69-2.48%) and LA-53 (0.76-2.84%). The compounds with the greatest variation in the second harvest were p-cymene (0.00-5.12%), limonene (0.00-11.08%), and elemol (0.00-10.54%), because of plant aging. In the second experiment, the highest dry weight of aerial part was observed for parental LA-56 (57.54 g plant-1). The essential oil content was higher in the progeny LA-57-10 (2.844%) and the parental LA-57 (2.664%). Carvone concentration was higher for LA-57 (59.02%), with a significant difference when compared with the evaluated progenies. Among the progenies, the highest carvone concentration was observed for LA-56-04 (57.78%) and the lowest for LA-57-01 (17.71%) and LA-57-02 (17.27%).One recurrent selection cycle resulted in increased formicidal activity of some progenies. Higher mortility of Acromyrmex balsani was caused by the essential oils of the progenies LA-56-04 and LA-70-03. / A erva-cidreira-brasileira [Lippia alba (Mill.) N. E. Brown] é uma espécie medicinal e aromática que apresenta vários quimiotipos. O óleo essencial rico em carvona possui atividade inseticida sobre pragas de interesse agrícola. Diante disso, o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a influência da idade da planta nos óleos essenciais de acessos de L. alba e de um ciclo de seleção recorrente na atividade formicida. Os ensaios foram conduzidos na Fazenda Experimental “Campus Rural da UFS”. Para o primeiro ensaio foram testados 18 acessos de L. alba, que foram colhidos quando as plantas estavam com um ano de idade (fevereiro/2006) e dez anos (fevereiro/2016). No segundo experimento foi realizado um ciclo de seleção recorrente com três acessos com alto teor de carvona no seu óleo essencial. Para o ensaio de competição de progênies foi implantado um ensaio testando 11 progênies e os três parentais. A idade da planta influenciou na produção e composição química dos óleos essenciais dos acessos de L. alba testados. Observou-se maior aumento doteor de óleo essencial para os acessos LA-41 (0,69-2,48%) e LA-53 (0,76-2,84%). Com o envelhecimento das plantas notou-se maior variação nos óleos essenciais para os compostos p-cimeno (0,00-5,12%), limoneno (0,00-11,08%) e elemol (0,00-10,54%). No segundo experimento a maior produção de massa seca da parte aérea foi observada para o genótipo LA-56 (57,54 g planta-1). O teor de óleo essencial foi superior na progênie LA-57-10 (2,844%) e o parental LA-57 (2,644%). A carvona foi superior para o LA-57 (59,02%) com diferença significativa em comparação as progenies avaliadas. Entre as progênies, o maior teor foi observado para a progênie LA-56-04 (57,78%) e o menor para o LA-57-01 (17,71%) e LA-57-02 (17,27%). Um ciclo de seleção recorrente resultou no aumento da atividade formicida de algumas progênies.Maior mortalidade de Acromyrmex balsani foi causada pelos essenciais das progênies LA-56-04 e LA-70-03. / São Cristóvão, SE

This diploma thesis deals with the identification of aroma active compounds in medicinal herbs. The group consists of 5 types of herbs: lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), pot marigold (Calendula officinalis), clary sage (Salvia sclarea), milk thistle (Silybum marianum), goat’s rue (Galega officinalis). These plants are known for their positive effects in folk medicine. The SPME-GC-MS method was chosen to characterize the fragrances. During the identification of volatile compounds, emphasis was put on suspected fragrance allergens listed in EC Regulation 1223/2009 in Annex III. Overall 106 compounds were identified together with 8 allergens in lemon balm, pot marigold contained 104 compounds with 7 allergens included, 82 compounds including 5 allergens in clary sage, 73 compounds were identified in milk thistle including 6 allergens and 110 compounds with 9 allergens included in goat’s rue.

Nanomaterials are playing an increasing role in novel technologies, and it is important to develop optical methods to characterize them in situ.  To that end, backside absorbing layer microscopy (BALM) has emerged as a powerful tool, being capable to resolve sub-nanometer height profiles, with video-rate acquisition speeds and a suitable geometry to couple live experiments.  In the internship, several techniques involving BALM were developed, and applied to study optical and electrical properties of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayer MoS2, a type of 2-dimensional (2D) crystalline semiconductor.  A simulations toolkit was created in MATLAB to model BALM, a workflow to reliably extract linear intensities from the CMOS detector was realized, and 2D MoS2 was synthesized by chemical vapor deposition followed by transfer to appropriate substrates.  BALM data of the 2D MoS2 was acquired and combined with simulations, giving a preliminary result for its complex refractive index at 5 optical wavelengths.  In addition, the first steps towards coupling BALM with a gate biased 2D MoS2 field-effect transistor were explored.  To complement BALM measurements, the grown samples were also characterized by conventional optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy.  This work provides new additions to an existing platform of BALM techniques, enabling novel BALM experiments with nanomaterial systems.  In particular, it introduces a new alternative for local extraction of optical parameters and for probing of electrical charging effects, both of which are vital in the research and development of nano-optoelectronics.